Affluent Society
An affluent society is form of society characterized by material abundance for broad segments of the population. A typical image for the affluent society is the literary topos of the Cockaigne, a mythical land of luxury goods. Similar terms, used more in a negative context, are throw-away society and consumer society. History of the term A popular description of the land of Cockaigne is found in 14th century Ireland as the eponymous poem ''The Land of Cokaygne'', which was a fictional country located to the west of Spain. The concept of the affluent society was borrowed from an economic work by the U.S. economist John Kenneth Galbraith called ''The Affluent Society'' and appears only sporadically in sociological or socio-critical works. Poverty in affluent societies Open poverty in the U.S. entered the public consciousness in 1962 with the book by the left-wing Catholic Michael Harrington ''The Other America''.Excerpt from He found 50 million poor people in a country of the ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Society
A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships ( social relations) between individuals who share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such relationships among its constituent members. Human social structures are complex and highly cooperative, featuring the specialization of labor via social roles. Societies construct roles and other patterns of behavior by deeming certain actions or concepts acceptable or unacceptable—these expectations around behavior within a given society are known as societal norms. So far as it is collaborative, a society can enable its members to benefit in ways that would otherwise be difficult on an individual basis. Societies vary based o ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lyndon B
Lyndon may refer to: Places * Lyndon, Alberta, Canada * Lyndon, Rutland, East Midlands, England * Lyndon, Solihull, West Midlands, England United States * Lyndon, Illinois * Lyndon, Kansas * Lyndon, Kentucky * Lyndon, New York * Lyndon, Ohio * Lyndon, Pennsylvania * Lyndon, Vermont * Lyndon, Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, a town * Lyndon, Juneau County, Wisconsin, a town Other uses * Lyndon State College, a public college located in Lyndonville, Vermont People * Lyndon (name), given name and surname See also * Lyndon School (other) * Lyndon Township (other) * * Lydon (other) * Lynden (other) * Lindon (other) * Linden (other) {{disambig, geo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Post-scarcity Economy
Post-scarcity is a theoretical economic situation in which most goods can be produced in great abundance with minimal human labor, so that they become available to all very cheaply or even freely. Post-scarcity does not mean that scarcity has been eliminated for all goods and services. Instead it means that all people can easily have their basic survival needs met along with some significant proportion of their desires for goods and services. Writers on the topic often emphasize that some commodities will remain scarce in a post-scarcity society. Models Speculative technology Futurists who speak of "post-scarcity" suggest economies based on advances in automated manufacturing technologies, often including the idea of self-replicating machines, the adoption of division of labour which in theory could produce nearly all goods in abundance, given adequate raw materials and energy. More speculative forms of nanotechnology such as molecular assemblers or nanofactories, whi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Countermeasure
A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept, it implies precision and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process. The first known use of the term according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary was in 1923. Countermeasures can refer to the following disciplinary spectrum: * Medicine * Materials engineering * Electro-magnetic engineering * Policing * Information technology * International Law * Diplomatic security * Pollution prevention * Aviation Defense countermeasures are often divided into "active" and "passive". Active "Active" countermeasures mean the system user or the defender takes an active position because the incoming incident is known so the system takes active approaches to deal with such possible damage. Such an approach may include setting up a security method for the incident or actively trying to stop or intersect such damage. Passive "Pass ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Anti-consumerism
Anti-consumerism is a sociopolitical ideology. It has been described as "''intentionally'' and ''meaningfully'' excluding or cutting goods from one's consumption routine or reusing once-acquired goods with the goal of avoiding consumption". The ideology is opposed to consumerism, being a social and economic order in which the aspirations of many individuals include the acquisition of goods and services beyond those necessary for survival or traditional displays of status. Anti-consumerism is concerned with the actions of individuals, as well as businesses where they act in pursuit of financial and economic goals at the expense of the perceived public good. Commonly, anti-consumerism is connected with concern for environmental protection, anti-globalization, and animal-rights. '' Post-consumerism'', the prioritization of well-being over material prosperity, is a related ideology. Background Anti-consumerism originated from criticism of consumption, arguably starting with Thors ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Economism
Economism is a direct reduction of any political or cultural phenomena or activities to economics. In particular, "economism" was a movement in early Russian Social Democratic Labour Party whose position was that the workers' struggle must be only economical and not political. Robert M. Young used the term as a synonym to Vulgar Marxism, which he defined as "the most orthodox osition in the socio-economic base and the intellectual superstructure". In Marxist analysis Lenin The term economism was used by Lenin in his critique of the trade union movement, in reference to how working class demands for a more global political project can become supplanted by purely economic demands. Economistic demands include higher wages, shorter working hours, secure employment, health care, and other benefits. In his criticism of economism, Lenin's view was that the political figure of the worker could not necessarily be inferred from the worker's social position. Under capitalism, the w ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Saral Sarkar
Saral Sarkar ( Bengali সরল সরকার), born 10 May 1936 in West Bengal, is an Indian-German academic and eco-socialist political activist. Sarkar taught at the Goethe Institute in Hyderabad from 1966 to 1981, as a lecturer in German. Since 1982, Sarkar has been based in Cologne, and has been a prominent figure in the European ecology and peace movement. Sarkar was also the secretary of the local Green Party of Cologne. In the 1980s, The United Nations University commissioned Sarkar to conduct an authoritative study of the Green movement in West Germany. His resultant two-volume study, ''Green-Alternative Politics in Federal Republic of Germany'' was published in 1993. Sarkar was prominent in the anti-globalization movement The anti-globalization movement, or counter-globalization movement, is a social movement critical of economic globalization. The movement is also commonly referred to as the global justice movement, alter-globalization movement, anti-globalist ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Per Capita Income
Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such as the American Community Survey. This allows the calculation of per capita income for both the country as a whole and specific regions or demographic groups. However, comparing per capita income across different countries is often difficult, since methodologies, definitions and data quality can vary greatly. Since the 1990s, the OECD has conducted regular surveys among its 38 member countries using a standardized methodology and set of questions. Per capita income is often used to measure a sector's average income and compare the wealth of different populations. Per capita income is also often used to measure a country's standard of living. When used to compare income levels of different countries, it is usually expressed using a commonly ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Simon Smith Kuznets
Simon Smith Kuznets ( ; rus, Семён Абра́мович Кузне́ц, p=sʲɪˈmʲɵn ɐˈbraməvʲɪtɕ kʊzʲˈnʲets; April 30, 1901 – July 8, 1985) was a Russian-born American economist and statistician who received the 1971 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences "for his empirically founded interpretation of economic growth which has led to new and deepened insight into the economic and social structure and process of development." Kuznets made a decisive contribution to the transformation of economics into an empirical science and to the formation of quantitative economic history. Kuznets pioneered the concept of gross domestic product, which seeks to capture all economic production in a state by a single measure. Biography Early life Simon Kuznets was born in 1901 in Pinsk, Russian Empire, in modern Belarus, to a Lithuanian-Jewish family. He was one of three brothers, the other being Solomon and George. He completed his schooling, first at the Rivne, then ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Gabriel Kolko
Gabriel Morris Kolko (August 17, 1932 – May 19, 2014) was an American historian. His research interests included American capitalism and political history, the Progressive Era, and U.S. foreign policy in the 20th century. One of the best-known revisionist historians to write about the Cold War, he was also credited as "an incisive critic of the Progressive Era and its relationship to the American empire." U.S. historian Paul Buhle summarized Kolko's career when he described him as "a major theorist of what came to be called Corporate Liberalism... nda very major historian of the Vietnam War and its assorted war crimes." Background and education Kolko was of Jewish heritage. He was born in Paterson, New Jersey, the son of two teachers: Philip and Lillian (née Zadikow) Kolko. Kolko attended Kent State University, studying American economic history (BA 1954). Next he attended the University of Wisconsin, where he studied American social history (MS 1955) and was taught by Wil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Great Society
The Great Society was a series of domestic programs enacted by President Lyndon B. Johnson in the United States between 1964 and 1968, aimed at eliminating poverty, reducing racial injustice, and expanding social welfare in the country. Johnson first used the phrase in a May 7, 1964, speech at Ohio University. The Great Society sought to build on the legacy of former President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal reforms of the 1930s, and planned to use the power of the federal government in order to address Income inequality in the United States, economic inequality, improve education and healthcare, and promote Civil rights movement, civil rights. The post–World War II economic expansion had raised living standards for many Americans, but significant disparities remained, particularly for racial minorities and those living in impoverished rural and urban areas. The civil rights movement was gaining momentum, highlighting Institutional racism, systemic racism and discrimination. ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cockaigne
Cockaigne or Cockayne () is a land of plenty in medieval myth, an imaginary place of luxury and ease, comfort and pleasure, opposite to the harshness of medieval peasant life. In poems like ''The Land of Cockaigne'', it is a land of contraries, where all the restrictions of society are defied (abbots beaten by their monks), sexual liberty is open (nuns showing their bottoms), and food is plentiful (skies that rain cheese). Cockaigne appeared frequently in Goliard verse. It represented both wish fulfillment and resentment at scarcity and Christian asceticism. Cockaigne was a "medieval peasant’s dream, offering relief from backbreaking labor and the daily struggle for meager food." Etymology While the first recorded uses of the word are the Latin ''Cucaniensis'' and the Middle English ''Cokaygne'', one line of reasoning has the name tracing to Middle French ''(pays de) cocaigne'' "(land of) plenty", ultimately from a word for a small sweet cake sold to children at a fair. I ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |